Ready for the next step?

Latest Tweets from SMSU

Some exotic sounds have been floating in the breeze this summer among community band concerts around the region. SMSU Director of Bands, Dr. John Ginocchio, recently returned from six weeks of sabbatical study in Spain, and since then, he has been sharing the band music of Spain with several community bands and speaking about his research.

Dr. Ginocchio's research focuses on the music of a festival that began in the Valencia region of Spain about 400 years ago. The Festival of Moors and Christians originally began in remembrance of the expulsion of the Moors from Spain during the Reconquest. However, in recent decades, it has become a celebration of the Spanish culture that arose out of the hundreds of years of interaction between these cultures. An important part of this festival is the music provided by area music societies and community bands of the region. His studies centered around the role of this music within the festival and the two unique styles of music that have developed along with the festival, the Moorish March and the Christian March. And it is this music along with other authentic pieces of Spanish band music that he has been presenting to the public.

Dr. Ginocchio has already conducted two concerts of this music, first on June 12 with the Mankato Area Community Band, and again on July 11 with the Marshall Municipal Band. He will conduct two other concerts in coming weeks with the St. Cloud Municipal Band on August 9, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. in Barden Park. Later on September 15, 2018 he will conduct the Swift County Concert Band.

In addition to these concerts, Dr. Ginocchio has also presented informational sessions on the Festival of Moors and Christians in Marshall and in Mankato. Additional sessions will be advertised at a later date.

(Dr. Ginocchio's sabbatical travel and music study was made possible in part by a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council with funds from the McKnight Foundation.)